MALAYSIA: The famous Malaysian preacher who made waves during the COVID-19 lockdown has been ordered to enter his defence on 11 charges related to sexual harassment.

Ebit Irawan Lew, or Ebit Lew, now faces 11 counts of sexual harassment, including outraging the modesty of a woman in her 40s by allegedly sending obscene images and messages via WhatsApp between March and June 2021.

Lew is a famous preacher with 1.9 million followers on one of his Facebook pages, and he apparently has access to many people on WhatsApp.

During one of the hearings last year (February 13, 2024), the ninth witness in the case, a woman, told the Magistrate’s Court that Ebit Lew showed his private parts during video calls several times, namely on March 29, 2021, as well as in April and May, which was during the month of Ramadan.

The woman gave explicit details to the court, telling how she convinced her husband that it was Ebit Liew. The husband did not believe her when she told him what had happened. She also said the preacher scolded her through the WhatsApp application because she refused to give him pictures of herself.

“On March 29, he (Ebit) showed his genitals at that time, and I managed to take a screenshot to give to my husband because when Ebit first gave the picture of his genitals, my husband did not believe.

“A few days later, I managed to convince my husband that it was Ebit because the picture he uploaded while in Africa used the same maroon‑colored sarong. After telling my husband, I wanted to take action, but my husband prevented it because ‘we are nobody.’ Then, when I told Ebit what my husband said, Ebit apologised, but he still WhatsApped me every few weeks,” she said during the main examination session.

The complainant said the accused once again showed his private parts in April and May when she received video calls from Ebit Lew.

The court was also informed that the judge told Liew that his wife refused to fulfil his sexual desires, which were too high.

This week, Magistrate Nur Asyraf Zolhani said the court found that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the 41-year-old on all charges.

The preacher is charged under Section 509 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both upon conviction.

“After examining and evaluating, with a positive assessment of the credibility and reliability of all the evidence presented by the prosecution witnesses, and after hearing submissions from both parties, as well as upon maximum evaluation of all the prosecution’s evidence, this court finds that a prima facie case has been successfully established by the prosecution against the accused,” he said.

The court fixed October 13 to 16 for the defence stage of the trial.

Defence lawyer Datuk Ram Singh said the defence would call between seven and 10 witnesses.

This article (Malaysian preacher Ebit Lew faces defence stage in harassment trial) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.